Living in Eternity

By Efrosini A. Pappas

Emotionally dragged through unbearable agony, I didn't know how I was ever going to recover from losing my loved ones; how I could go on living without ever being able to communicate with them. Miraculously, I encountered a major fork in my journey that led me down a path I had never envisioned.

Wanting to share my experiences, I wrote Living In Eternity, a memoir personally tracing destiny through the individuals, events, miracles, and visual experiences that changed forever the way I looked at and lived my life.

I discovered there is no separation of time between past, present, and future; that eternity is here at this moment in a parallel dimension. None of us really knows what the future will unfold.

I welcome you to read Living In Eternity. Who knows where this book will lead you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Aug 17, 2018
• ISBN: 9781982208707

Efrosini A. Pappas

I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, of Greek heritage. My parents were my role models, and at an early age I learned that communication with the spirit world is possible and to believe in dreams. “Living In Eternity” is my first book, a process which began over 50 years ago. I believe things don’t happen until they’re meant to happen … and you’re now reading it. I have enjoyed a fascinating career in the Travel, Art and Entertainment industries, and as a teacher of the Greek language, culture and traditions. In 2016 I produced Love Song To Greece, a multi-media presentation and companion guide. The most meaningful part of my life has been my 5 children and 12 grandchildren, the loves of my life. Robert Frost summed up everything he learned about life in three words … It goes on. May your journey be long, full of discovery and adventure, and lead you to the pathway that is best for you. Keep smiling, from the inside/out.

Book preview

Copyright © 2018 Efrosini A. Pappas.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Cover : Eternity watercolor by Efrosini

Balboa Press

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ISBN: 978-1-9822-0869-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-0870-7 (e)

Efrosini A. Pappas

310/600-2870

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Balboa Press rev. date: 11/27/2018

CONTENTS

Preface

A Simple Life Changing Experience

Chapter 1.

Appearances Of Happiness

Chapter 2.

The Layers Of Logic

Chapter 3.

One Heart

Chapter 4.

The Unexplainable

Chapter 5.

Discovering My Universe

Chapter 6.

Time Travel

Chapter 7.

Surviving

Chapter 8.

Forever Present

Chapter 9.

Angels On Earth

Chapter 10.

Understanding My Reality

Chapter 11.

Learning From My Parents

Chapter 12.

Communicating Across Boundaries

Chapter 13.

The Promise Of Youth

Chapter 14.

Dreams Or Fantasy

Chapter 15.

A Miracle

Chapter 16.

The Passing Of Time

Chapter 17.

Interfacing With The Spirit World

Chapter 18.

Walking The Labyrinth

Chapter 19.

Heaven On Earth

Chapter 20.

The Continuation Of Life

Chapter 21.

A New Beginning

Chapter 22.

A Final Goodbye

Chapter 23.

The Circle Of Life

Post Script

By The Way

dedication1_pass.jpg

…

dedicated to my loving family

without whom

my life would be meaningless…

dedication2_GS.jpg

"To be yourself in a world that is

constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

"You have a brush.

You have your color.

Paint paradise.

Then go in."

Nikos Kazantzakis

Preface

A Simple Life Changing Experience

L ife is unpredictable. We don’t know from one moment to the next when the course of our life will change.

Have you ever felt there was something you’ve been waiting to hear without knowing what it is or why? This was one of those times.

It was 2002. I was returning to the United States from Botswana, and during a layover at the Johannesburg airport, I went into the bookstore and browsed through the aisles. I was intrigued by the title of a book, The Miracle of Mindfulness, written by Thich Nhat Hahn, a Buddhist monk exiled from Vietnam. I perused it, bought it, and never regretted it. The book so profoundly resonated with me that it unconsciously set me on a path I had never envisioned.

Can that be described as a meaningful experience? Was it coincidental? I don’t believe in meaningless occurrences. I believe there are clues that come to us when the time is right, the time to address issues in our life, and this was one of them.

Let me go back in time. Shortly after the birth of my second son in 1966, my life changed. It became apparent to me that my experiences may be worth sharing. It wasn’t easy. I had to first learn to set aside the limitations imposed upon me by a society that knew as little as I. As I began to look at the events in my life with an expanded vision, my life took on new perspectives. I believed in what I was about to write, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t.

When my son died in 1981 I was determined to write about what led me to this place in my journey. However, things don’t happen when we want them to happen; they happen when they’re meant to happen. It was despair over my daughter-in-law’s death in 2000 that finally enabled me to begin to sort out my thoughts and feelings.

Not knowing if I had a message, I took a leap of faith and began writing vignettes of personal stories, mine and others. My book became a long work-in-progress as I tried to process everything so that even I could understand.

You are now about to read what took place over a period of 50+ years that changed the way I looked at and lived my life. Living In Eternity is written as a narrative woven with glimpses of visionary experiences, which I hope you will read with your heart.

It is a story about grief, longing, searching, about prayer, love, miracles, and life-changing events … a story which may parallel yours. The chapters are presented in an unplanned manner, however, I hope I have made it possible for you to find a connecting thread between them and follow my stream of consciousness.

It isn’t religious or scientific, however, it does include both, written by someone who is not an authority on either. I make mention of children - I have been blessed with five; and grandchildren - I have twelve. Names have been omitted to protect their privacy.

The pronoun ‘I’ is used to signify everything I have personally experienced and/or perceived to have experienced, knowing that others may view them differently through their own perspectives. For those shared by others, I use the pronouns ‘he’ and ‘she.’ They are real to them and a private part of themselves and their memories, and that’s all that matters. I have set these personal experiences apart from my narrative in an italic format to convey the moments of clarity that pierce the veil of time.

Often there is one individual who unknowingly sets us on an alternative journey. For me, it was my cousin who led me off the beaten path. It was he who opened my third eye, an invisible inner eye providing me with a perception beyond ordinary sight to all possibilities, and to whom I offer my gratitude and love.

What I have learned is minuscule when measured by the span of eternal life and all there is to learn. It did, however, lead me on an inspirational journey that opened the door to a continuation of knowledge that brought me happiness and peace, one which may not have otherwise been part of my present reality. It also reinforced my belief that there is no separation of time between the past, present, and future. There is only now; Eternity; and my book took life.

Standing in one spot, we see one picture, a picture that has multiple angles, one that has infinite possibilities. Each time we make a choice, we create another reality. Some of our choices don’t seem to be important at the time, or appropriate, but they shape our lives.

You bought this book. Why have you chosen to read it? Perhaps you were intrigued by the title, the concept, or it became your time to open your third eye. How you interpret it is up to you.

Live each moment in its entirety.

Author Unknown

Chapter One

Appearances Of Happiness

L et me start at the beginning … one of many.

It was a hot June night. There was not a breath of fresh air; nothing stirred. Even the grass and flowers curled waiting revival, which would come with the early morning dew. Two fans were oscillating in opposite directions in the corners of the room I had occupied for the past three months. My bed now consisted of the carpet, and my pillow, the towel I would be using the following morning.

There was an uneasiness in my spirit. I had a long trip ahead of me, and I needed the sleep. Was it the heat that kept me awake or the anticipation of saying a second goodbye to a place that held precious memories that was coloring my early morning rise? As the sun crept through the window I bolted upright, feeling somehow that I was already running late. Despite the urgency, I took a long hot shower with the events of the past three months running fast forward in my mind.

It was like an April fool joke.

I didn’t believe it at first when my eldest child, my first-born son, and daughter-in-law asked me to move in with them. Although we lived a five minute walk apart, we respected each other’s independent lifestyles, privacy, and space. We were there for one another, but did not impose regularly planned visits or daily phone calls.

Occasionally, when my daughter-in-law ran errands in the afternoon, she would drop off my granddaughters, and I would enjoy indulging in some creative fantasy play with them. They were a bright glow in my otherwise workaholic teaching life, as I was traveling back and forth into New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. Needless to say, there was not